We absolutely LOVE running an Instagram Loop Giveaway for a multitude of reasons, however without a proper plan in place, there’s higher chance it could turn into a tedious, time-consuming, & stressful task which is why some people avoid them altogether.
Good thing is, we’ve been there & have learnt our lessons along the way, valuable lessons that we can now share with you to ensure a successful (stress-free) giveaway campaign.
But first, why?
There are so many reasons why we encourage & help our clients bring Instagram Loop Giveaways to life, but the main reason is that they amplify & strengthen brand connections & relationships. This style of giveaway involves asking your audience to go take action and follow all pages involved, which is where the term ‘loop’ comes from. It is the perfect opportunity to associate yourself with like-minded brands, & to build your following with consumers.
After growing brand relationships with like-minded brands, & hence locking in extra followers, there are so many benefits that flow on from this. Once you’ve locked in that extra follower, you’ve increased your brand awareness, your content will start to show in their feed & stories, your engagement rates increase, & you’ve now secured yourself in their evoked set of brand options.
Things to be aware of:
Like the old saying goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. This couldn’t be truer when it comes to bringing a social giveaway to life. Here are our top tips when it comes to planning your next social giveaway:
· Do your background research – Be sure to dive deep into each brand you are considering partnering with. This includes reviewing their website, reading up about their mission, their values, & anything that gives you more of an idea of the core root of the brand. Does this align with you & your brand? Next is their Instagram page. Does their brand voice & image align with yours? Are they active on their socials? How often do they post? If the vibe is right, then it’s time to reach out.
· Aim for 3-5 brands in total – Keeping the brand list low almost forces you to think very carefully about who you are partnering with. It ensures that you are aligning with brands that feel closest to yours, & brands that you know your audience will love. There is no right or wrong number of partners as we understand this can also strongly depend on your industry and the objective for the giveaway, it’s simply our suggestion. For example, our client Buddee ran an Instagram Loop Giveaway partnering with only two other brands and saw huge success from this. On the other hand, our Straight Up PR Northern Beaches Instagram Loop Giveaway included a total of nine brands and received over 130 entries through our post alone.
· Avoid competing brands – Once you’ve completed your research & put together a list of your top candidates, it’s time to review & ensure there are no brands that compete with one another. If you happen to have two or more that overlap, pick your favourite & keep the other/s as back-up in the case that your top pick doesn’t respond or doesn’t want to be involved (this is a possibility).
· Ensure all brands are on board with posting to their profile – Once you have reached out & secured your brand partners, make sure all brands have agreed to post on their Instagram page. This is crucial as the level of participation determines the level of brand connection. This also avoids other brands piggybacking off your followers for their own gain.
· Keep the aesthetic of the creative on-brand for all – Whether you are briefing a graphic designer or pulling the creative together yourself, it’s important that the creative is suited to everyone’s Instagram grid.
· Create a captivating caption – When it comes to composing the caption, it’s important to capture attention early by including ‘GIVEAWAY’ up front & centre. Once you’ve got their attention, this is when you can reel them in. Keep it fun, maybe tap into a theme for the giveaway, keep it relevant to your audience, & ensure you outline the prize up for grabs, & then the steps required to enter in the draw.
· Sign off the caption correctly – At the end of the caption, there are two very important things to cover off:
1. Always nominate & mention the account (with the account handle) that will be contacting the winner, along with the date that the winner will be contacted. This will ensure that your followers don’t fall victim to fake accounts asking for their details. This doesn’t always happen, but when it does it can be extremely stressful for some brands. By taking this one crucial step during the planning process, you can avoid any issues down the track. If this does happen, be sure to notify your followers via an Instagram story, asking them to report the account, & to not respond if they are contacted.
2. You must mention ‘This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, or associated with Instagram’. This has been included in Instagram’s promotional guidelines to legally void them of any responsibility if a consumer was to feel wronged by your giveaway.
· Brief all brand partners – Now you have your creative & caption finalised, brief in all brand partners approximately one week out from the giveaway launch date. This provides each partner enough time to plan it into their weekly social schedule. Your brief should include the date & time that the post is to go live, the final caption, & should have the creative attached. This is also your chance to include any other specific instructions. We like to remind & encourage brand partners to share the post to their stories throughout the giveaway period as this increases the number of entries (and hence following for everyone).
It's go time!
We wish you all the best with your Instagram Loop Giveaway & truly hope our few key tips help to bring your giveaway to life without any unexpected hiccups.
If you’re keen to learn more about how we can help you grow your brand & run a successful social giveaway, please get in touch at Hannah@StraightUpPR.com.au. We love a chat!